U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle Shoots Down Iranian-Built Drone in Syria

A U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle shot down an armed Iranian-built Shaheed-129 UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) advancing on coalition forces in Syria. This is the second the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone in less than a month.

The incident occurred at about 12:30 a.m. as coalition forces at an established combat outpost northeast of At Tanf where they are training and advising partner ground forces in the fight against ISIS. It’s also the same location where another pro-Assad UAV dropped munitions near coalition forces before it was shot down on June 8.

The F-15E Strike Eagle went after the armed Iranian drone as it was observing and advancing on the coalition force’s position. It continued to advance on the coalition’s position without diverting its course and the decision was made to shoot it down.

On Sunday, an F-18 Super Hornet shown down a Russian-built Syrian SU-22, prompting the Russians to threaten to target U.S.-led coalition planes west of the Euphrates River in Syria.